The idea mijostyn has (and others, he is far from alone in this) of bass timing being smeared is of course based on the false assumption that human hearing responds to all frequencies equally.
That this is false is proven by a simple experiment in which subjects wearing headphones are played test tones of short duration. This test demonstrates conclusively that less than one full wavelength of low frequency bass is not heard AT ALL. Say again, human hearing does not even register very low bass less than one full wave duration.
Understand what this means? A single 20 Hz wave lasts 0.05 seconds. Anything 20 Hz lasting less than 0.05 seconds will not be heard at all. Sound travels roughly one foot per millisecond. Ballpark. So think about it. Bass can travel FIFTY FEET before we are even capable of hearing it.
So I ask, from the point of view of timing- not frequency response, just timing- how in the world is it possibly going to matter where you put the subs? Any normal size room the bass is going to leave the speaker, bounce off half a dozen surfaces, probably more than once, all before you even hear it.
Yes timing is super important - at high frequencies. I take heat on here all the time for saying speaker placement being off as little as 1/8" matters. But that’s high frequencies. Low bass is completely different.
Just one of several deeply ingrained yet totally false concepts hampering our ability to understand the beauty of the distributed bass array.
That this is false is proven by a simple experiment in which subjects wearing headphones are played test tones of short duration. This test demonstrates conclusively that less than one full wavelength of low frequency bass is not heard AT ALL. Say again, human hearing does not even register very low bass less than one full wave duration.
Understand what this means? A single 20 Hz wave lasts 0.05 seconds. Anything 20 Hz lasting less than 0.05 seconds will not be heard at all. Sound travels roughly one foot per millisecond. Ballpark. So think about it. Bass can travel FIFTY FEET before we are even capable of hearing it.
So I ask, from the point of view of timing- not frequency response, just timing- how in the world is it possibly going to matter where you put the subs? Any normal size room the bass is going to leave the speaker, bounce off half a dozen surfaces, probably more than once, all before you even hear it.
Yes timing is super important - at high frequencies. I take heat on here all the time for saying speaker placement being off as little as 1/8" matters. But that’s high frequencies. Low bass is completely different.
Just one of several deeply ingrained yet totally false concepts hampering our ability to understand the beauty of the distributed bass array.